Mirsky's List: Strongest Candidates for President - NH 2015

It’s the end of 2015, a very crazy year with a lot of bad occurrences, but thanks to Malcolm Butler, the New England Patriots defensive back who won the Super Bowl in February with his famous goal line interception, it was not a total loss. However, we mourn for our fellow Americans lost to gunfire in San Bernardino, California, and for those lost in the Paris attacks, and for our soldiers lost overseas.

As you know, here in New Hampshire we’ve been watching the 2016 Presidential Candidates all year, hoping to somehow figure out how this thing (the 2016 Presidential Election) might end. We need to choose a new President and it has to be someone capable and qualified to handle the challenges of a dangerous world.

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that the person chosen to be President, in this Age of Television, has to be somebody that, above all, people will like, most of the time anyway.

President Barack Obama has been somebody that the American People have liked. If you don’t understand why, just watch the Barack Obama edition of Bear Grylls’ television show, where the two of them went hiking in a glacial area of Alaska. Regardless of your views on his policies, you’d have to agree, if you are being honest, that Barack Obama has been a President of great composure, humor, and kindness. He will be missed.

So that brings me to the task at hand. How do the current Presidential candidates stack up?

I will have to admit that I don’t know them all. But the following are my impressions:

REPUBLICANS:
1. Ben Carson, former pediatric neurosurgeon. I should call him “Dr. Ben Carson”, but among New Hampshire Republicans he is more often known as just, “Ben”. Ben Carson has a lot of support here in New Hampshire. His lawn signs are everywhere. I’ve seen Ben Carson signs in the deep Republican stronghold of Derry, New Hampshire, and right here in Exeter. You’ll see Ben Carson signs wherever you go in New Hampshire, because Ben Carson is a calm, soft-spoken, brilliant man with his own ideas about the world. He does not seem to be putting on a show, like one of his more noticed opponents.

2. Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida. I saw Jeb Bush recently at the Exeter Town Hall, (for my take on the Jeb Bush event, check out my previous post on Exeter Patch, entitled, “Mirsky: Jeb Bush is Ready to Defeat Trump and ISIS”).

I found Jeb Bush to be a very sincere, hardworking guy, motivated to improve the quality of life in American, and a person who is not afraid of Donald Trump.

3. Carly Fiorina, former Chief Executive Officer of computer giant Hewlett-Packard. There are young people wearing Carly Fiorina tee shirts, and I’ve seen Carly Fiorina signs in Exeter. Carly Fiorina has to be admired because she is a survivor, and she doesn’t put up the garbage that is spewed out by her key opponent, Trump. Carly Fiorina clearly has a great depth of knowledge in the area of foreign policy and defense intelligence. You don’t get to be the CEO of a big company like Hewlett-Packard without being tough, so we know Carly Fiorina is tough, having survived breast cancer and the loss of a child, she has also found a way to reach for inspiration and, given the chance, I believe she will start to show that side of herself.

DEMOCRATS

1. Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Senator from New York. The thing about Hillary Clinton is that if you are here in New Hampshire, you should take the opportunity to go and see her and hear her speak. (Clinton will be in Portsmouth tomorrow morning.) People appear differently in public when they are perpetually subjected to politically-motivated mudslinging. If you want to know something of the real Hillary Clinton, what she cares about, what she knows about American and the world, you have to see her. In my view, what you find out when you meet Hillary Clinton is that the thing she cares about most is people, and that what she knows about government and the economy and families and health care and foreign policy is a lot. I have written much about Hillary Clinton this year, so you can check out my earlier posts if you want to know my opinion in more detail.

2. Martin O’Malley, former Governor of Maryland. Martin O’Malley is a dignified guy, has stayed in the presidential race with very little encouragement from the political polls, but seems to have a good heart and a lot of poise. You never really know how these things will end . . . .

3. Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator from Vermont. I was very surprised to see the TV campaign commercials that are running for Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire, where Senator Sanders shows himself working side-by-side with 2008 Republican Presidential Nominee John McCain. I can appreciate and agree with Bernie Sanders when it comes to support for better wages for working people, that‘s a traditional Democratic Party position, but I find the Bernie Sanders-John McCain commercials very disconcerting, because they suggest that Bernie Sanders will say or do anything to win votes. Now, I have to say, I do like John McCain, but that’s because I know what John McCain stands for. I hope to get some updates from Bernie Sanders supporters on this issue.

In the meantime,

Happy New Year!!!